Painful Cuts Hit Neighborhoods with Too Few Doctors

April 01, 2013 at 4:23 pm

As the sequester axe descends on Medicare this week, some of the pain is falling on programs helping new doctors prepare to set up shop in the neediest neighborhoods — just months before health care reform brings a surge in demand.

Funding for medical residencies in primary care are about to be hit with cuts of up to 8 percent, according to the American Association of Family Physicians, harming their ability to train recent medical school graduates.

One program set to take a hit is Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education. Approved by Congress through 2015, it has made it possible for the Manhattan-headquartered Institute of Family Health to train eight doctors in Harlem and another eight in the Hudson Valley.

The above map shows New York City neighborhoods that are “medically underserved,” according to standards and boundaries designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Click on each highlighted area to see how many Medicaid-eligible residents do not have adequate access to a primary care physician.

Funders

MetroFocus is made possible by James and Merryl Tisch, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, the Anderson Family Fund, Bernard and Irene Schwartz, the Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family, Rosalind P. Walter, Jody and John Arnhold, Judy and Josh Weston.